What are water rights?
The legal right of landowners to access and use bodies of water following their properties is known as a “water right.” Different kinds of water rights exist depending on the types of water that border or are present on a property.
The eastern and western regions of the United States can have different water rights. The Western states have historically adhered to the prior appropriation doctrine, which grants the first user of water the right to divert it. The riparian principle, which restricts water use to the land owner next to the water, is practiced in most eastern states.
How Water Rights Work
Landowners whose property is next to moving bodies of water, like rivers or streams, are granted riparian rights. Landowners usually have the right to use it if the water does not negatively impact their neighbors downstream or upstream. The landowner typically owns the area below the water to the precise center of the waterway if it is impassable.
Landowners who have land adjacent to large, navigable lakes and oceans are entitled to what are known as coastal rights, a type of water. Tides and currents influence these bodies of water, but they do not pass by the land like rivers and streams do. Littoral rights holders own their land up to the median high-water mark but have unrestricted water access.
Appurtenant water rights flow with the land rather than belong to the owner. If an oceanfront property is sold, the new owner obtains the littoral rights, and the seller relinquishes their rights.
Special Considerations
An owner who controls property with a riverbank bordering on a running river may use the water for their requirements, such as drinking, giving water to animals, bathing, or watering gardens. These are all considered home applications and are approved. However, riparian rights could not enable the water to be pumped or otherwise extracted from the running river or stream.
Each state and municipality will have restrictions and limitations on the amount of water diversion that may be approved. The water could not be authorized for agricultural irrigation or commercial uses, depending on local rules.
Some locations may allow for specific irrigation uses of the water. Applying for water diversion rights may be feasible, allowing water movement away from its source. This would facilitate the exploitation of the water for commercial reasons, such as mining activities or the watering of fields for agricultural operations. These limitations are designed to lessen water removal’s effect on the surrounding ecosystem.
Water diversion rights may contain requirements for continually maintaining water usage, or the rights will expire after a predetermined time.
Eastern vs. Western U.S. Water Rights
States in the eastern region of the United States follow the riparian theory of water rights, which permits landowners to reasonably use the watercourse—such as a stream, lake, pond, or river—adjacent to their property. The landowner is entitled to utilize the water if it doesn’t obstruct another landowner’s reasonable usage downstream. An acceptable use of the water might be, for instance, drinking, watering animals, or irrigation.
In most eastern states, a government-run riparian system is in place. A state agency will need applications from people or businesses and information on how the water will be used. The state will assess the predicted water consumption to see whether it is acceptable before awarding the permission.
In contrast, the previous appropriation water rights theory is applied in almost all states west of the 100th meridian. The 19th century saw the beginning of prior appropriation as people pushed into the western areas. “First in time, first in right” was how settlers obtained water rights. The right to use and divert water is vested in anyone who first appropriates a source and uses it for their own benefit.
By the turn of the 20th century, the federal government had started to pass laws restricting and limiting the use of some water rights that had been previously appropriated. A few pieces of legislation addressed land and water restoration. The Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Clean Water Act are examples of this legislation. Due to these limitations, the Department of Interior claims there has been much friction between the federal government and the Western states.
Conclusion
- Landowners with water rights may access bodies of water next to their property.
- Landowners with riparian rights can access and use flowing bodies of water, such as rivers and streams.1.
- One kind of water right that ensures access to lakes, seas, and oceans is a littoral right.
- States govern water rights, and municipalities have the authority to impose more stringent rules on the use and access of water.
- Western U.S. states have long adhered to the previous appropriation concept, which grants the right to divert water to the first person who began using it. 1.
